Metal awning



Dec. 2, 1952 J. R. BOTTOM 2,

METAL AWNING Filed July 11, 1949 2 sums-swam 1 INVENTOR; JOHN R. BOTTOM,

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H TTORNEX 1952 J. R. BOTTOM 2,619,691

METAL AWNING Filed July 11, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 l7 INVENTOR: JOHN R.BOTTOM,

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Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE METAL AWNING John R.Bottom, St. Louis, Mo.

Application July 11, 1949,. Serial No. 104,006

6 Claims. '1

The present invention relates to improvements in metal awnings and thelike.

The invention is primarily concerned with metal awnings having topmembers formed of a plurality of sheet metal strips or channels which.are arranged in parallel, side by-side relationship and adapted to bemounted over an opening in a building wall with the strips extending.slopingly at right angles to the said wall. This type of constructionyields a number of important manufacturing advantages and'is used to aconsiderable extent in the industry. However, a disadvantage of thecomposite awning, roof from the manufacturers standpoint is the greatamount of time and labor involved in assembling the component channelparts and in securing them together and to supporting members. "Machinescrews or rivets together with special brackets and clips have beengenerally'used for'the purpose. Such means afiordadequate securement ofthe awning parts, but the use thereof is an important .factorinhighproduction costs. A further disadvantage in many instances, is thatthe screw holes which are required in'the sheet metal strips or platestendto produce points of water leakage.

An important object of this. invention is to provide an awninghaving aroof structure comprising strips or channels which-are formed, securedtogetherand secured to supporting members, in an improved, extremelysimple andeconomical manner, such that the manufacturing cost of theawning may be substantially reduced.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improvedmetal'awning construction such that the 'partsthereof may be easily andquickly assembled, and the assembled awning readily mounted for serviceby persons without previous experience, special skill or training. Theachievement of this objective reduces the assembly cost when the awningis manufactured complete at the factory and also renders it prac- 'ticalfor the .awnings to be shipped, and sold in unassembled format arelatively low price, for subsequent assembly and, installation bythepur- 1 chaser.

Another=object .is directedto the provision of an improvedventilatedawning of the described character.

.Another object, of the invention isachieved in the provision .of -ametal awning construction which affords improvement in strengthanddurability. as compared to.similar awnings. of former constructions..In such .otherawningsthe individual. strips .-or.channels..are.fastened together attwo orpossibly three spaced points, whereas tion andconnected together at their adjoining edges so as to produce a top ofsubstantially corrugated form. One group of said members, for

convenience referred to as covers, constitute the ridge portions of thesaid corrugated top, and the other members, called pans, form the furrowportions and serve to conduct rain water to the outer edge of theawning. The present invention is directed to improving the constructionof ventilated awnings, and especially to improved provisions that enablethe cover and pan channel -members to be assembled and fastened togetherand to'supportsin an extremely rapid, simple, and effective manner.Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be morefully described and explained as the description of an awning embodyingthese features and advantages proceeds.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of an awning constructed in accordance with theinvention hereof;

Fig. 2 is a front view of theawning shown in Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is an enlarged cross-sectional viewtaken at line'33 of Fig.1,-with certain portions removed to' facilitate illustration;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing one of the supporting framemembers, also referred to as a runner;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional viewas taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showingthe construction at the upper end of the awning and provisions forfastening the same to a wall; 7

Fig. 6 is an exploded view showing the parts illustratedin Fig. 5, and

Fig. '7 is an enlarged view of upper and lower channel members or pansand showing, the preferred manner in which they are assembled toeether.

Referring now by, characters of reference to the .drawingsthe awning ofthe present invention ,mcludes a top or roof structurewhich is madehaving marginal portions of their flanges interlocked in the formationof a strong connecting seam. The channels are alternately inverted suchthat one set of alternate channels, designated it, have their webportions disposed uppermost and their flanges l 5 depending from the webportions. The members It, for convenience of identification referred toas cover channels, have the marginal portions of their flanges H turnedinwardly in the formation of lip flanges E2. The flanges Il maydesirably be provided with air vent openings 13. These openings allowheated air from below the awning to escape, and further relieve theawning of excessive and damaging pressures such as might be created bythe wind acting thereon.

The complementary roof members l5, also by preference of channel form,are relatively inverted with respect to the members i0, being arrangedwith their flanges l6 projecting upwardly from the Web portions. Themembers [5 are characterized by flat ribs [1 that project laterallyoutwardly in substantially the plane of the web, the ribs if beingformed by bending or folding the material upon itself with sufficientspace remaining between the plies of the folds snugly to accommodate theinturned lip flanges l2 of the members 10. The outer extremities of theribs ll are crimped and turned upwardly in the provision of short,upstanding flanges l8, useful in connection with the means for securingthe members In and i5 to the frame supports, as will be hereinafterdescribed and explained. The flanges it are formed as continuations ofthe upper plies of the ribs 11. These flanges slope upwardly andoutwardly and terminate at their upper edges in outwardly turned flangesill, the chief function of which is to reinforce the flanges Hi.

In addition to the pan and cover channels heretofore described, the topstructure of the awning includes a pair of end members 20, which arecalled starting pans. Each of the starting pans have flange and ribformations at their inner side margins which are similar tocorresponding formations at one end of each of the pan channels 15. Thatis to say, each starting pan has at one side edge thereof a slopingflange 2| terminating upwardly in a reinforcing lip 22, and a flat rib23 having a short upstanding lip 24. As will be understood, these flangeand rib formations on the starting pans provide for the securement ofthe outer sides of the outermost cover channels l5. At the opposite orouter edges of each starting pan there is a downturned flange 25 thatextends over the upper edge portion of a side skirt member 25, as shownin Fig. 3. The awning is also provided with a front skirt constituted bythe vertical forward end portions 2'1, 28 and 29 respectively of the panand cover channels and the starting pans above described.

The roof members l0, l5 and 2B are supported by and. secured to therunners 30, two or more of which are provided. The runners 32! arearranged in parallel spaced relation below the said members and at rightangles thereto. The runners 30 are preferably channel-shaped metalbeams, as best appears in Figs. 4 and l, and are provided with clips Siby which the roof members are secured thereto. The clips Si in thepresent embodiment are formed integrally with the runners and consist oftongues of metal struck upwardly from the top flange 32 of the runnerand bent to the form of hooks as shown. The clips or hooks 3| arerelated in pairs, the

clips of each pair being formed and arranged to extend over and engagethe upstanding lip flanges I8 of a pan channel [5, as appears in Fig. 3.The clips 3| are of height to accommodate the said lip flanges withoutvertical play such that the clips will retain the pan channels tightlyagainst the upper surface of the runner. An additional unpaired clip 33is provided near each end of the runner for engaging the single lipflange 24 of a starting pan 20. Screws 34 fasten the outer sides of thestarting pans to the runners.

The runners 30 are secured at their ends by screws 35 to inward flanges35 formed on the side skirts 26. These side Skirts give a finishedappearance to the sides of the awning, having, for ornamental purposesscalloped lower edges 37 as shown. They also constitute structuralmembers and take the place of end frames such as are customarilyprovided in other metal awnings.

Angle braces 38 are secured at their upper ends to the flanges 36 of theside skirts 25 shown in Fig. 1, and are adapted to be secured at theirlower ends to a building wall, as by lag screws 39.

Fig. 5 illustrates simple and effective means of presently preferredcharacter for attachin the awning at its upper horizontal edge to a wallof a building, or to the lintel of a door or window, and for preventingrain water from leaking through the awning at the wall junction.Pursuant to the illustrated provisions, the cover pans [8 have endportions of their flanges ll removed, the end of the web remaining as aprojecting tongue 40. Such tongue is bent, arcuately in the presentexample, but so as to present a shoulder 4i that rises above the normallevel of the cover channel. Similarly, an end projecting tongue 42 isformed on the pan channels I5, which tongue is bent upwardly as shown.The upper end portions of the channels, with their said tongueformations, are adapted to fit within a channel shaped flashing strip43. The upper flange 44 of that strip is shaped to embrace theshouldered tongues 4! of the cover channels, and the lower flange 45forms a seat to receive the ends of the pan channels. The channelflashing strip 43 is applied by snapping the same over the end tonguesit and 4|, the metal being sufficiently resilient to permit of thismethod of assembly. Securement is attained by lag screws A6 or theequivalent that extend through the flashing strip and through the panchannel tongues 42 and into a wall or lintel member. The corner abovethe flashing strip may be filled with caulking or other sealingcomposition, indicated at 4?.

There now follows an explanation of the preferred manner for assemblingthe parts heretofore described, in the formation of the awning. The tworunners 30 are placed in parallel relation on a fiat surface, with theclips 31 and 33 disposed uppermost, and then the pan channels I? and thestarting pans 20 are placed on the runners, with their upstanding lipflanges l8 and 24 in hooked engagement with the clips 3: and 33. Thisoperation is easily accomplished, the dimensions of the said lip flangesand clips providing for clearance merely adequate to facilitate theirassembly. The runners may then be adjusted so as to space them apart adistance predetermined by the spacing of preformed holes in the startingchannels which are to receive the screws 34. Such screws may then beinserted and the ends of the runners 30 thereby fastened to the startingpans 20.

The next step consists in the application of the cover channels Hi. Thisis done by inserting an inturned lip flange 12 at one side of the coverchannel into the gap formed in the rib fold ll at a corresponding sideof a pan channel. The opposite lip flange rests upon the sloping surfaceof the pan flange l6. Now, by striking the cover channel a sharpdownward blow with the hand the opposite lip flange is caused to slidedown the sloping surface, both flanges yielding sufficiently to permitthis, and to snap into place in the gap formed by the opposite rib fold[1. Thus the cover pan is caused to lock itself in place. During thelast described procedure the pan channels adjust themselves within thelimits permitted by the clips 33, to spacings best suited to accommodatethe cover channels and are themselves locked in place with respect tothe runners and the cover channels by the latter members.

It is desired to point out that the sloping flanges I6 afford what maybe regarded as camming surfaces for the flanges II of the cover channelsduring the assembly operations and thereby greatly facilitate thoseoperations. The flanges l6 serve additional purposes of strengtheningthe roof structure, and of forming a bafile wall for the obstruction ofany rain water that may pass through the air-vent apertures l3. It isalso to be noted that the ribs ll have the dual function of providing aconnecting seam by which the pan and cover channels are united, and ofpresenting a projecting lip or ledge for engagement by the clips on thesupporting runners 30.

The awning structure is completed by applying the side skirts 26 and theangle brace rods 38, and then the flashing strip 48, the manner ofassembling these parts being apparent from the foregoing description.

The invention hereof has been described with reference to a particularawning construction which contains the essential features of theinvention. It is understood that certain changes may be made inconstruction of parts and method of assembly herein described withoutdeparting from the spirit and full intendment of the invention definedin the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a metal awning, a plurality of pan channels having upwardlydirected flanges, and a plurality of cover channels having downwardlydirected flanges, said pan and cover channels being arranged inparallel, alternate, overlapping relation in the formation of acorrugated top structure, said pan channels having longitudinal ribsprojecting outwardly from the lower margins of the flanges thereof, saidribs being formed to provide longitudinal grooves therein, said coverchannels having inwardly directed lips on the lower margins of theflanges thereof, said lips being securely disposed within said ribgrooves.

2. A metal roof structure as set forth in claim 1 and including asupporting member underlying and extending transversely of saidchannels, and

means fastening the outwardly projecting ribs of the pan channel to saidsupporting member.

3. A sheet metal roof structure comprising in combination, pan and coverchannels arranged in alternate, laterally overlapping relation, said panchannels having upwardly divergent flanges, and grooved ribs formed atthe base of said flanges, said cover channels having lip flanges securedwithin said grooved ribs, supporting members extending below saidchannels and fastening means on said supporting members engaging theribs of saidpan channels.

4. In an awning, a sheet metal roof structure comprising pan and coverchannels arranged in alternate, overlapping relation, said pan channelshaving upwardly divergent flanges and ribs formed at the base of saidflanges, said cover channels having inturned lip flanges projecting intoand securely held by said ribs, supporting members extending below saidchannels transversely thereto, said supporting members having tonguesprojecting upwardly into the space below said. cover channels, saidtongues having bent end portions engaging said ribs.

5. A metal roof structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the flanges ofsaid cover channels are provided with air-vent apertures located thereinbelow the level of the upper edge of the pan channel flanges.

6. A metal awning comprising a series of laterally spaced pan channelshaving upturned flanges, a series of laterally spaced cover channelshaving downturned flanges disposed in staggered, overlapping relation tosaid pan channels, means connecting the lower marginal portions of saidpan and cover channel together, said means comprising a grooved ribformed in said pan channel, extending substantially the length thereof,and a projecting tongue on said cover channel extending into saidgrooved rib, supporting runners transversely below said channels, meansfastening said runners to said ribs of the pan channels, and achannel-shaped wall mounting strip extending transversely of the saidpan and cover channels at one end of the assembly thereof, said mountingchannel strip having the ends of said pan and cover channels receivedbetween and engaged by the flanges thereof.

JOHN R. BOTTOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

